Abnormalities in brain lipid metabolism may be causative agents for certain mental health disorders such as senility and alcoholims. More specifically, this proposal deals with cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system (CNS) of miniature swine. Initially the sterol and/or bile acid content of brain stem of pigs of various ages (perinatal to adult) will be studied by thin layer (TLC) and gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) in an effort to determine precursors as well as possible metabolites of cholesterol as a function of brain development. Such experiments may indicate whether demyelination is associated with the catabolism of cholesterol to bile acids or other metabolites during senescence. Data obtained from these priliminary studies will provide essential information for comparison in future work concerning possible abnormalities in sterol synthesis in alcoholic pigs. The use of miniature swine as an appropriate animal model is necessary since the acquisition of human brain for a developmental study of this nature would present obvious experimental difficulites. In addition, these animals are currently available to the principal investigator and have the advantage of possessing similar anatomical, neurological and physiological properties to man. Therefore, the data obtained from future studies with alcoholic pigs may provide new information regarding the biochemical effects of alcoholism in humans.